Drier and sterilizer



May 6, 1952 B, Q, GQODIN 2,595,242

DRIER AND STERILIZER Filed Dec. 2, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 1N V EN TOR.

BENJAMIN O. GOODIN BY Z May 6, 1952 B. o. GooDlN 2,595,242

DRIER AND STERILIZER Filed Dec. 2, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

- INVENTOR. BENJAMIN O. GOODIN ATT'Y.

the interior of the container, for cleaning, repair, and removal oftrays or dishes they may be lodged therein.

Below the track in the container is a shallow removable drip tray 25which is inclined toward the exit end and a discharge tube 21 extendsdownwardly therefrom to register 'with a discharge tube28 in the bottomof the container. Any drippings from the dish trays will be caught inthe drip tray and discharged from the container.

Air ducts 2U extend from the top closely within and at the sides of thecontainer at its inlet end, and join at the bottom below the track.Extending centrally from the ducts lengthwise of the.

container is a distributor duct 29 having outlets 3U at intervalsprojecting downwardly. Extending centrally from the ducts 20 below thetrack and longitudinally of the container is a distributor duct 3|having outlets 32 at intervals projecting upwardly through openingsprovided therefor in the drip tray 25.

By raising or removing the conveyor track, the tray 25 may be raiseddisengaging it from the air outlets 30, and moved endwise through one ofthe end openings I8 for cleaning or replacement. The tray preferably tsthese outlets closely and the' edges of the tray openings may beinclined upwardly to reduce leakage around the outlets.

In the top of the container, at the sides of the distributor duct 23,are straight electric tubular lamps 33 of the ultra-violet ray type,suitably mounted in adjustable reflectors 34 and controlled by circuitconnections in conduits 35 leading to a switch 35 at the outside of thecontainer.

Mounted on top of the container i is an electric motor 31 driving ablower fan (not shown) in a casing 38. Connected to the casing at theside opposite the motor is a iilter housing 33 with a removable cover40. In the housing are bre glass iilters 4I or other suitable airfilters.

Between the fan casing and the hot air ducts 20 is a coil housing 42mounted on an angle iron support at the top of container lil. In thehousing are hot steam coils (not shown) separately connected to a steamsupply pipe 43 by valves 44. At one end the housing 42 is connected tothe blower fan casing 38 by a fiexible coupling 45 and at the other endis a hot air supply manifold 45 connected at its bottom by a flexiblejoint 41 to a top iitting 48 for that portion of the ducts 2!) whichopen through the top of the container I0.

At the end oi the steam supply pipe 43 is a gauge 49 to indicate steampressure, and connected in the outer end of the manifold 45 is athermometer 50 to indicate the temperature of the hot air or otherdrying medium within the manifold.

The unit as thus described` is complete for use as a drier, but it isadapted to be connected to a dish washing machine, or to receive dishesupon a track extension i from and similar to the container track andlocated in an adjoining exhaust hood 52 at the inlet end of thecontainer i0. Leading upward from the hood is an exhaust duct 53 forvapors, and the bottom forms aA centering drain tray 54 with a pipe 55extending therefrom for a liquid dripping discharge. At one side is aninspection door 56 hinged at the top, adapted to be supported in araised position by a hook 51 on the exhaust duct.

At the opposite or discharge end of the drier is a receiving table 60supported by legs 6! substantially at the level of the conveyor track.An upwardly extending retaining rim 62 has one side 63 cut and bentoutwardly to extend inside the drier just above the track side railangle bars With this construction, dishes, trays of dishes, and otherobjects or materials to be dried, are deposited upon the track extension5I. Being supported upon rollers I6, they are pushed along the drivetrack by successively deposited trays or articles, until the precedingones emerge from the discharge end of the drier. The trays, dishes, andthe like are removed, placed on the table 60 and distributed as desired.

During passage of the articles through the drier, the coils in thehousing 42 are heated so that air drawn through the iilter housing andforced through the heater housing, will be directed through the hot airmanifold ducts 20, 23 and 3i, and outlets 30 and 32, from the top andbottom, respectively, of the container, above and below the conveyortrack. At the same time, heating and sterilizing rays from the lamps 33will be directed downwardly by the reflectors 34 upon all articlespassing through the drier.

Within the container is an inner wall 64 outside of the conveyor track,at the sides, and about the same distance from the outer wall as theinner side of the side ducts 20. This provides a hollow side wall spaceinto which the insulations i9 are inserted. The insulation is protectedon the inside by the wall 64 and the outside wall is cooler, nottransmitting so much heat to the room in which the drier is located.

Thus the movement of articles through the drier is progressive orcontinuous, heated vapors and drippings are automatically removed, anddrying and sterilizing are continued as long as the articles are in thecontainer. The drier and exhaust hood may be added to any washing orcleansing machine already installed, they may be installed separately asa complete operative unit, or they may be part of a completeinstallation of a washer, exhaust, and drier. The exhaust hood may alsobe omitted, if desired, from any such combination, as the drier willperform its functions alone, but perhaps not so satisfactorily norefficiently as when the exhaust hood is connected thereto, therebydisposing of vapors, surplus drippings, and conserving heat from thedrier at the inlet end. The hood also reduces the escape of ultra-violetrays from the lamps 33, which may be detrimental if a person is too muchexposed to them. 1 s,

While a preferred construction has been thus described in detail, itshould be regarded'as'an example and not as a limitation of theinvention, as various constructions, combinationsand arrangements of theparts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or forthe Government of the United States of America for governmental purposeswithout the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

I claim:

1. In a drier, a hollow container with a removable track extendingthrough it, material inlet and exit openings at the ends of the conveyorabove the track, a hot air duct in the bottom of the container, upwardlyextending outlet nozzles in the top wall of the duct below the track,and a removable tray between the duct and the track, openings in thebottom wall of the tray through which the outlet nozzles project. saidnozzles sub, stantially closing the tray openings.

2. In a drier for wet articles, a hollow container, a conveyor trackextending through the container, a hot air duct extending around theinside of the container at one end outside of and below the track, hotair distributor ducts extending horizontally from the hot air duct atthe top of the container and below the track, outlet nozzles in thedistributor ducts extending inwardly, centrally and upwardly of thecontainer to direct hot air at the top and bottom of anything supportedbythe conveyor track, a drip tray between the bottom duct and the track,openings in the bottom wall of the tray through which the nozzlesproject upwardly from the` duct below the track, a fluid discharge tubeprojecting downwardly from the tray, and a discharge tube in the bottomwall of the container which registers with the tray discharge tube.

3. In aA drier, a hollow container with inside walls spaced at the sidesfrom outside walls, a conveyor track extending through the containerwithin the inside walls, end material openings in the container abovethe track in the inside and outside walls, hot air ducts at one end ofthe container occupying the space between the inside and outside walls,insulation between the inside and outside Walls for the remainder of thesides, and extensions from the hot air ducts above and below the trackhaving nozzles directed toward the track to dry articles as they aremoved along the track.

4. In a drier, a hollow container with a removable track extendingthrough it, material inlet and exit openings at the ends of thecontainer above the track, a hot air duct in the bottom of the containerhaving upwardly extending outlet nozzles in the top wall of the ductbelow the track, a removable tray below the duct and the track, the trayhaving openings in the bottom Wall through which the outlet nozzlesproject, said nozzles substantially closing the tray openings, andcurtains removably supported at the outside of the container and at thetop of each opening and opened by contact of a tray movable through thecontainer upon the track, the curtains tending to remain closed toretain heat in the container.

5. In a drier, a hollow elongated means for forcibly circulating warmair through said container, material inlet and outlet openings in theend walls of the container, a conveyor track extending through the inletopening and through the container to adjacent the outlet opening, meansforming an exhaust hood connected to the inlet end walls and surroundingthe inlet opening and that section of the track extending through saidinlet opening, a vapor discharge duct extending upwardly from the hood,a curtain removably secured to the outside of the inlet end wall andcovering the inlet opening, an opening in a wall of the hood and aremovable door closing said opening to provide access to the curtain andconveyor track.

6. The combination of claim 5 characterized further by a drip tray underthe hood beneath the track to carry off condensed water.

7. In a drier. a hollow container, material inlet and outlet openings inthe opposite end walls of the container, a conveyor track extendingthrough the container from the inlet and outlet opening, hot air ductswithin the container extending horizontally above and below the conveyortrack, openings provided with nozzles in opposed walls of said ducts fordirecting hot air towards the track, means connected to one of the ductssupplying hot air, conduit means Within the container and extendingabout the walls of the container and around the tracks to conductthe'air to the other duct.

BENJAMIN O. GOODIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,139,858 Gillette May 18, 19151,155,468 Collins Oct. 5, 1915 1,409,877 McNeill Mar. 14, 1922 1,524,851Wolf Feb. 3, 1925 1,551,305 Hellmann Aug. 25, 1925 1,562,762 Harris Nov.24, 1925 1,692,812 Blakeslee Nov. 27, 1928 1,910,868 Webb May 23, 19331,915,648 De Reamer June 27, 1933 1,932,124 Tobey Oct. 24, 19331,948,239 Redd Feb. 20, 1934 2,073,669 Zademach Mar. 16, 1937 2,095,502Johnston Oct. 12, 1937 2,129,634 Albright Sept. 13, 1938 2,385,962Barnett Oct. 2, 1945

